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How to Successfully Solicit for New Clients and Listings in Commercial Real Estate Brokerage

Far too many agents entering the industrial property industry think that generic advertising will help them build market share quickly and effectively. Nothing could be further from the truth. The industrial property market is quite specific and is structured mainly around personal relationships established with the right people. In simple terms you need to have…

Far too many agents entering the industrial property industry think that generic advertising will help them build market share quickly and effectively. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The industrial property market is quite specific and is structured mainly around personal relationships established with the right people. In simple terms you need to have a direct ongoing personal marketing plan to connect with the right people in the right way.

Here are some ideas to help you build those essential and important relationships with the right people in local industrial property:

Location specific – Stay within specific geographic locations so that you can specialize in local property market knowledge, prices, and events. The people that you connect with will test you when it comes to property information and knowledge. Track and measure the results achieved locally with recent sales and leasing results.

Direct mail – Undertake the appropriate research to identify active property investors and portfolio owners. From that research you can send direct mail to the right property people at the right time and at regular intervals through the year. In saying that, every piece of direct mail sent should be followed up with a telephone call. The direct mail piece should be designed to get the person to take your call when it is made. The message here is that you should establish new relationships with new people in a regular and ongoing way. The direct mail process and follow up will help you with that.

Signboard presence – Get plenty of signs into your defined prospecting territory on properties available for sale or lease. Over time those signs should be reverted to and placed on exclusive listings only. At the start of your career that exclusive listing focus may be a challenge given that most of your listings are likely to be of the 'open' type more than 'exclusive'. As you improve your personal property services and professional skills, carefully move across exclusive listings as part of serving clients, investors, tenants, and business owners. Avoid taking any open listings given that with open listings you can not control the client, the marketing, the property, or the negotiation.

Business owners – The local business owners in your area will be a significant source of new business leads and market intelligence. Those business owners are also likely to need assistance from time to time when it comes to property expansion, change, or relocation. Understand the differences between sales and leasing activity locally so that you can quote prices, returns, and listings appropriately to the right people.

Most industrial property leads and opportunities will come from the professional and established business relationships that you build over time. From the very start of your career, take the time every day to reach out to new local people in the categories of local industry, investment, and occupation.